UAMS gets $1 million gift for otolaryngology department

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received a $1 million gift to establish the Pamela Rakhshan Chair in Otolaryngology, named for the donor’s daughter, whose life was saved by a physician there.

In 2008, Pamela Rakhshan, then 18, was diagnosed with mucopidermoid carcinoma, a malignant tumor in the trachea, according to a news release from the hospital. The condition is rare, only occurring 2 or 3 times per 100,000 people per year, most often in the elderly.

Her father, Chris Rakhshan, praised her surgeon, Dr. James Y. Suen, who operated on Pamela Rakhshan for more than 10 hours and continued her follow-up care, the release states.

“I thought for sure that we had lost her,” he said. “But Dr. Suen told me later that he took extra time, because she’s so young, and he wanted to be sure that not only the operation was successful, but that she would never have any issues. He took extra time to make sure everything was done to perfection.”

Suen is a distinguished professor in the department of otolaryngology, which specializes in the surgical treatment of patients with diseases and disorders of the ear, nose and throat.

When Chris Rakhshan moved to Colorado recently, he donated his Arkansas home to UAMS. The hospital received nearly $1 million in proceeds from the sale.

Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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